Avatar: The Last Dragon
by Echo101
Summary: The last Avatar, Avatar Kyoshi, destroyed the empire of Chin the Great, saving the Earth Kingdom from a terrible fate. But she has passed on. Now everyone waits for the next Avatar, whom they have begun calling The Dragon Warrior.
1. Book 1: Air Chapter 1: The Cave

_Earth. Water. Fire. Air. The Avatar can bend all of these. The last Avatar, Avatar Kyoshi, destroyed the empire of Chin the Great, saving the Earth Kingdom from a terrible fate. But she has passed on. Now everyone waits for the next Avatar, whom they have begun calling The Dragon Warrior._

**Book 1: Air**

**Chapter 1: The Cave  
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Roku looked back at the mainland. He wished he was there. But he wasn't, he was on a ship, headed for the Southern Air Temple. He was leaving behind Sozin, and even though he didn't like to think about her, Ta Min.

He glanced down at the headpiece cupped in his hands. Sozin had given it to him as a gift. Who knew when he'd see him again? Roku glanced back at the receding island, the only home he'd known. _You did want an adventure._ He chided himself. "But becoming the Avatar…" He thought out loud. Things suddenly started to make sense after he was told this.

The pillar of earth that had sprouted from nowhere. The water that had seemed to grab the frog. And when he was scared, the blast of wind that drove his enemies away. Even how easily firebending came to him. He thought it was because he was naturally talented. Now he realized it was because he was the Avatar.

Roku closed his eyes against the harsh wind. _Maybe I'll find a dragon_. He thought to himself. He always wanted one. He loved how they flew, how they seemed graceful despite being killers. He wondered when he was going to get one.

* * *

><p>The gentle air monk that was accompanying Roku on his journey handed him Air Nomad clothes.<p>

"I thought I was to continue wearing my Fire Nation clothes." Roku said in response.

"Not for this journey, young one." The monk said. "You do not have to shave your head, but in order to fully realize you duty as the Avatar, you must get rid of anything that binds your home nation. You are not a Fire Nation citizen anymore." The monk patiently explained. "You are now the only person who does not belong to a nation. Being part of a nation blinds you to your duty."

Roku's face showed only horror. "So, I can't be friends with…" He started.

The monk interrupted. "You can be friends with Fire Nation people. But you must also understand the other nations. In time, you will find friends within all of them."

Roku nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat.

* * *

><p>Roku stepped into his room. According to the monk, he would share the room as customary of any novice. He had only learned the name of his roommate, Gyatso. As he was staring all around the room, a young boy skidded in.<p>

"I'm Gyatso, who're you?" The boy had an open and friendly face.

"I'm the…I'm Roku." Roku was about to say the Avatar, but he didn't want to be gawked at on his first day.

"That's cool. Hey, how come you don't have to shave your head?" Gyatso asked enviously.

"Oh…um…I have a scar." Roku quickly made up.

"That's cool. Can I see it?" Gyatso appeared to be talkative. _Not a good sign._ Roku thought uneasily.

"It's underneath all of my hair."

"Wow. You wanna go see the flying bison?"

Roku blinked, taken aback by the change in the subject. "Um…sure. Are we allowed to?"

"Nope." The boy said happily, before running out the room. He ran back after realizing Roku wasn't following him. "Newbie, huh? Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

* * *

><p>Roku wished he'd said no. But no, he had to say yes. And right now, he was on the back of a flying bison with an insane kid right next to him.<p>

"Watch out!" Gyatso said, laughing manically.

"Who's bison is this?" Roku yelled, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.

"The head monk's!" Gyatso replied happily.

The bison suddenly landed on top of a cliff. Roku quickly scrambled off and ended up flat on his back. Gyatso happily jumped from the top. "That was fun!"

Roku wasn't paying any attention to him. He was looking around. "Gyatso. Where are we?"

"Oh." Gyatso's face fell as he realized what Roku was saying. "I don't know. Maybe there are caves here!" He said excitedly before quickly climbing down the cliff face. Roku looked downwards before swallowing his distaste and climbing down the cliff.

"Um…Gyatso, do you know where you're going?"

"No." Gyatso yelled back, still climbing down. "Hey, look here!" He said as he found the cave.

Roku finally climbed down. "That's a big cave." He said.

"I know. Let's explore it!"

"What? We don't know anything about it! For all we know, there could be an angry platypus-bear in here!"

"Stop being such a bore. You never know what's going to happen if you don't take the chance!" Before Roku could stop him, Gyatso ran into the cave.

"Wait for me!" Roku called as he followed Gyatso. He quickly caught up with him. "This is a big cave. A big scary cave. With ferret-bats."

"Don't be silly." Gyatso told him. "We'll be fine."

Roku still looked apprehensive. They followed the cave for what seemed like miles. "Isn't it dinner time?" Roku realized.

"You're right." Gyatso told him. "Let's go back." He turned around and began walking towards the cave entrance. Presently, they came to a fork in the path. "I think we should take the right one."

"How do you know?"

"Lucky guess?" Gyatso shrugged.

Roku sighed. "My first day away from the Fire Nation…" He muttered.

"Whoa. You're from the Fire Nation?" Gyatso asked.

"Yes. And I didn't want to come here."

"Then why are you here?"

"Indentured servitude." Roku said wryly.

"We don't have servants." Gyatso was confused. "I don't get why you have to come here. We normally don't let outsiders in. Most people consider themselves lucky to come."

"I know." Roku said awkwardly. "It's just…I'm the Avatar."

Gyatso blinked. "What?" He suddenly smiled. "That's great! You can do all sorts of things. And everyone's gotta obey you!"

"It's not great. It's bad." Roku said glumly.

"Why?"

"Because I had to leave my whole life behind. I had to leave my friend."

"Oh." Gyatso said. "I had to leave my mom."

"What?"

"Air monks and Air nuns are separated. They've always been. It's why you can't train Western Air Temple. You're a man. My mom's at the Eastern Air Temple. I've never seen her. I don't remember her at all."

"Nothing?"

"Not a thing." Gyatso said as they came to the end of the tunnel. "I wonder what this is." He said, pointing to the boulder.

"Move." Roku said, pushing Gyatso to the side. Roku concentrated, before making a pushing motion with his hands. The boulder flew, right into the middle of the dining hall.

* * *

><p>Gyatso and Roku were in trouble. But Roku didn't care. He'd made a friend. His first friend away from the Fire Nation.<p>

**A/N Reviews mean a lot to me, so review!**


	2. Book 1: Air Chapter 2: Flying Lessons

_Earth. Water. Fire. Air. The Avatar can bend all of these. The last Avatar, Avatar Kyoshi, destroyed the empire of Chin the Great, saving the Earth Kingdom from a terrible fate. But she has passed on. Now everyone waits for the next Avatar, whom they have begun calling The Dragon Warrior._

**Book 1: Air**

**Chapter 2: Flying Lessons**

"I can't believe you got me here." Roku grumbled as he mopped the floor.

Gyatso shrugged. "It was fun." He said.

Roku sighed. "I'm supposed to set an example for the world."

"Doesn't mean you have to be all sad about it."

"I know." Roku frowned.

Gyatso brightened up after a minute. "Hey Roku, guess what?"

"What?"

"We have glider lessons today! They're awesome!"

"I highly doubt I'm going to use a glider."

Gyatso shrugged. "Doesn't matter. You still have to learn it. It's a staple of airbender training. Besides, it's really fun."

"Flying. That's fun." Roku said sarcastically.

"That's the spirit!" Gyatso said happily as Roku rolled his eyes.

* * *

><p>If nothing else, the Air Temple was beautiful. It was surrounded by clouds and seemed to float in them. It never fell, and it was always stayed up. Roku thought that Sozin would have loved it here. He always loved defying things. Now he could defy gravity.<p>

Roku snapped to attention as he realized the teacher was talking. "Remember to stay over the courtyard." Monk Wong reminded them. "It would not do good to fall into the clouds."

"Couldn't we just airbend our way up?" Gyatso asked.

"When you are older." Monk Wong said. "Now, you are the air. The glider is just a tool. Prepare yourself."

Roku glanced over the edge and swallowed. "This should be fun!" Gyatso piped up.

"Everything's fun according to you." Roku muttered.

"Cheer up! It's not that bad."

"Yes it is."

"Get ready!" Monk Wong said, interrupting the boys' conversation. Roku put himself in position, feeling that this could not go worse than it was right now. "And….go!"

The boys quickly kicked off. Some of them immediately flew like it was natural. Roku, unfortunately, was not one of them. He managed to stay up for one second before promptly crashing into a bush. Gyatso landed gracefully next to him.

"You need flying lessons." He said.

Roku just groaned and put his head back in the bush.

* * *

><p>"What you're trying to do is to be the air." Gyatso explained.<p>

"But I'm not." Roku told him. Gyatso insisted that he train Roku privately so that the Avatar would not be humiliated the next time they had flying lessons.

"Well then, try to pretend you're floating."

"But I don't want to be."

"Are you scared of heights?" The look on Roku's face gave Gyatso his answer. "Okay…now I know how to make you a better flier."

"How?"

"We blindfold you!" Gyatso said, happily pulling a blindfold from behind his back.

"Are you sure I'm safe?" Roku asked as Gyatso tied the blindfold around his eyes.

"I'm positive. Stop worrying so much." Gyatso said as he gave the blindfold one last tug. "Now you're set."

Roku started trembling. "So…what do I do?"

"Just jump!" Gyatso said, laughing as he pushed Roku off the cliff they were standing on.

Roku yelped as he fell down. He bent the air around him to form a ball, swirling his hands in the air to do so.

"Just keep flying!" Gyatso said as Roku continued bending the air.

Roku maintained complete control of his glider as he flew back to Gyatso. "See, you did it!" Gyatso cheered as he took off Roku's blindfold.

Roku sagged as the blindfold was removed. "I don't…what?" He asked.

"You did it! You flew."

"No I didn't! I've been standing here the whole time!"

"You did!" Gyatso insisted. "You flew!"

Roku's eyes narrowed. "Is this a trick?"

Gyatso shook his head. "I swear on…the fastest flying lemur in the world that I didn't do _anything_ and I'm not making it up."

Roku scrutinized his friend carefully. "If you're sure." He said hesitantly.

"Trust me." Gyatso said confidently. "If you fly like that again, no one will bother you! They'll all be so impressed, even Monk Wong!"

* * *

><p>Roku gulped as he gripped the glider. This was his second flying lesson, and if what Gyatso said was true, then he would be the best.<p>

"Take off…now!" Monk Wong said and the boys kicked off.

Roku seemed a little unsure, but he was better than before. At least he didn't crash into a bush. Gyatso caught up to his friend. He laughed at Roku flying. "Told you you could do it!" He yelled. Roku grinned back. Gyatso's face suddenly lit up. He flipped the glider so that he was on top, riding it like a surfboard.

Gyatso promptly crashed into Roku, who crashed into several other students. Roku and Gyatso looked at each other before laughing.


	3. Book 1: Air Chapter 3: Kyoshi

__Fire. Air.__ Water. ____Earth.____ __The Avatar can bend all of these. The last Avatar, Avatar Kyoshi, destroyed the empire of Chin the Great, saving the Earth Kingdom from a terrible fate. But she has passed on. Now everyone waits for the next Avatar, whom they have begun calling The Dragon Warrior.__

**Book One:  
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**Air  
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**Chapter 3:  
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**Kyoshi  
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"Well, we're not in trouble this week." Gyatso said as he and Roku mopped the floors. "Well, I mean, we were kind of said not to do it but on the whole…"

"Gyatso, calm down. I'm not mad." Roku assured his friend.

"Oh, because…" Gyatso started.

"Don't worry. It was fun, learning how to make fruit pies." Roku said as they continued mopping. "Even if it got a little bit out of hand."

Gyatso nodded. "So what about that girl you were talking about earlier?"

Roku blushed. "Ta Min. She used to walk by, every time I practice firebending with Sozin."

"Wait? Sozin. As in Crown Prince Sozin?"

"Yeah. He was my best friend."

Gyatso clapped Roku on the shoulder. "Best friends are for life."

"Until this Avatar business." Roku muttered.

"Hey." Gyatso raised his hands. "I'm expected to become one of the head monks, but you don't see me complaining." When Roku still looked desolate, he continued, "Look at it this way, you get to go around the world for free."

Roku laughed. "I guess."

Somewhere, a bell rang. "Meditation." Gyatso shook his head. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Roku sat with his back straight, his eyes closed. He attempted to concentrate. <em>Think of nothing.<em> He instructed himself. _Empty your mind. This isn't working._

"What isn't working, young Avatar?" A voice asked. Roku jumped violently.

He opened his eyes and saw a bizarre sight. A monkey was sitting calmly, meditating. "Um…what?"

"You said it was not working." The monkey replied, his eyes closed.

"Where am I?" Roku asked, looking around. "It's definitely _not_ the air temple."

"Of course not. It is the Spirit World."

"Oh." Suddenly Roku felt very small.

"Kyoshi awaits you." The monkey said.

Roku got up and began to explore his surroundings. _Kyoshi was my pervious life. Maybe she's here somewhere._

"I am always here, young Avatar." Roku turned around and came face to face with a painted face. He fell backwards into the swamp.

"Avatar Kyoshi?"

"That is I." Kyoshi smiled. "It appears you have accidently come into the Spirit World."

"Yeah…How do I get out?"

"I will show you after you come with me."

"Right." Roku got up and followed Kyoshi.

"For many years, I have protected the land from people who would seek to harm it. I killed Chin the Great for this purpose." Kyoshi said. "It has come to my attention that great turmoil will be ahead of you."

"What kind?" Roku asked.

"I am not sure. But you need to understand that all the wisdom you need is here, in you past lives. All you need to do is look for it."

"By meditating?" Roku guessed.

"By meditating." Kyoshi agreed.

"Why am I the Avatar?" Roku blurted out.

"Fate." Kyoshi replied. "Believe me, none of us wanted to be the Avatar. But things happen, Avatar Roku. I was just as surprised as you to discover that I was the Avatar."

"I'm going to be a horrible one." Roku muttered.

"Patience. You must wait and see. The world needs your attention, but you are too young."

"I know." Roku sighed.

"You will grow older though. And you will learn. The Avatar is needed to keep balance in the land. In turn, the Avatar suffers as the land suffers. You will understand that as your training progresses." Kyoshi intoned. She turned and faced Roku. "It is time for you to go back. We will meet again." She promised. She touched Roku's forehead.

* * *

><p>Roku sat up with a gasp. Everyone in the class was staring at him, open-mouthed. Then Gyatso started bouncing up and down. "That was so cool! Your eyes started to glow and everything!"<p>

Roku laughed awkwardly. The supervising monk looked at him. "I assume you met Avatar Kyoshi?"

"Um…yeah, kinda." Roku said.

"Your meditation session is finished. Please return to cleaning the kitchen with Gyatso."


	4. Book 1: Air Chapter 4: The Solstice

_Fire. Air. Water. Earth. The Avatar can bend all of these. The last Avatar, Avatar Kyoshi, destroyed the empire of Chin the Great, saving the Earth Kingdom from a terrible fate. But she has passed on. Now everyone waits for the next Avatar, whom they have begun calling The Dragon Warrior._

Book One:

Air

Chapter 4:

**The Solstice**

"The solstice is the most important part of the year. Especially the winter solstice." The monk intoned.

"Yeah, yeah." Gyatso interrupted. "It's the shortest day of the year."

"And also the most deadly. This is when the spirit world and this world come together." The monk replied.

"So…past Avatars are going to come to life? Maybe we'll see what Roku looked like 100 years ago!" A student called.

The monk sighed. "No. The spirits can cross over more easily. That is all. We may see them if they choose. Only a certain few will be able to see spirits regardless of whether or not they allow us to see them."

"Cool!" A young boy named Chu-an yelled out. "I want to see them!"

"It is a gift. Not a right." They young monk patiently explained before going back to his lecture.

* * *

><p>"Do you see them?" Gyatso asked Roku as they finished up their kitchen duties.<p>

"See what?"

"Spirits?"

Roku paused. "Other than my meditations when I can't help it, no."

"We should go see one."

Roku sighed. "We can't. You heard the teacher. Only some people can see them."

Gyatso nodded, then smiled. "What if you brought _me_ into the Spirit World?"

"I don't know how."

Gyatso sighed. "Oh well. There's plenty of stuff for us to do during the solstice!"

* * *

><p><em>Dear Roku,<em>

_How are you in your trainin? I heard airbenders have to shave their heads. I hope you don't come home bald. That would be the surprise of the century._

_Anyways, my training to be the next Firelord is progressing nicely. I cannot write much more, but I cannot wait for you to return to our home._

_Sincerely,_

_Sozin_

_P.S. Ta Min was asking about you. You should write to her._

Roku smiled sadly as he read the letter.

Gyatso burst into the room. "Roku, I saw them! I saw the spirits!"

Roku dropped his letter. "Cool! Where?"

"In the garden!"

"I don't see anything." Roku said doubtfully.

"It's gone." Gyatso said. "But it was here! I swear it was here!"

"What was it?"

"It was monkey dude!" Gyatso said excitedly.

"A…monkey dude?"

"Yep. And it was like meditating and everything."

"You're not drinking cactus juice anymore, right?"

"I'm telling you! It was here, right here!"

"Well, maybe it was here."

"It will be."

* * *

><p>Dinner was quiet and subdued. The Avatar and his new friend were missing from the table. "Where is Avatar Roku and Novice Gyatso?" The head monk asked.<p>

All of the students turned to look at him. "They're out in the garden." One of them finally said.

"Why?"

The student shrugged and went back to eating. "I dunno."

* * *

><p>Gyatso and Roku were woken up by the sound of their names. "What?" Gyatso said blearily.<p>

"What are you doing out here?" The monk who had found them demanded.

"Looking for the monkey spirit." Roku mumbled.

The monk sighed. "Since it is a special occasion, we shall not punish you…now."

Roku and Gyatso looked at each other and gulped.


End file.
